For the first time in many years, I attended a race at Bemidji Speedway. Last time I was there I was a freshman in college at Bemidji State; I won’t say when that was as I don’t want to give away how old I am. 😊
I will say the city of Bemidji has changed a lot since I went to school there. Frankly it was kind of a dump back then. The campus hasn’t changed a ton, sitting right on the lake, but the city has changed a lot. A lot of new development/businesses all over, it’s turned into its own tourist version of Brainerd, IMO.
My goal this year was to make it to 15 tracks, and Bemidji was #10. The ¼-mile track is nestled in the woods east of the city. The track itself has a nice shape to it with some banking. There is an old-school feel to the facility – a wooden grandstand, no sponsor suites or anything fancy that way. And you know what, that’s totally OK because most tracks aren’t Cedar Lake or Deer Creek. It isn’t a perfect track and has its flaws, but you know what, every race track I go to has flaws.
I spoke with Tonja Stranger, owner of the track, on the phone on Friday. She said Bemidji works hard to be a family-oriented track and to provide that kind of atmosphere for fans. They do run seven classes and if you read my blog you know how I feel about racing that many so I won’t belabor that point. My initial impression was things were pretty laid back and the people there were having a good time, which really is what racing is about. I know the stands were virtually packed and there were 91 cars in the pits, I think that's a good night in my books.
They run the Wissota Hornets, but they also run the four-cylinder. Bemidji Mini Stocks. The difference, the mini stocks are all rear-wheel drive machines.
I want to thank Dennis Peterson, the track’s reporter, and I would also call him the track historian. He’s been writing articles for the track since the late 1970s and was a photographer up until last year. I sat by Dennis and he provided a lot of information and background on the track, some of the families that race there, etc. It was nice to finally meet him.
Onto the racing. It was a long night -- a lot of cautions unfortunately -- but there was some good racing.
The Wissota Super Stock feature was the best race of the night. Brandon Bahr of Tenstrike jumped out front with Nic Lewis of Bemidji and Jack Koranda of Bluffton close behind.
Two cars I was watching were national point leader Dexton Koch of Becker and Dylan Nelson of Merrifield, who is third in the national points. But those two were bottled up in a cluster of cars that included Matt Sparby of Bemidji, Dalton Carlson of Cohasset and Kevin Salin of Iron.
A three-car melee in turn three left three cars with damage – Sparby, Carlson and Salin. Sparby was sent to the tail. On the restart Dylan Nelson suffered a flat tire and went to the pits to get it changed.
Koranda would get past Bahr for the lead, but Koch was charging. He took over second and was closing on Koranda up front. Bahr was running third and Carlson fourth. Nelson was coming back and chasing Nic Lewis of Bemidji for third.
Koranda’s lead vanished and Koch was working the high line; he looked to the outside and the two made some contact in turns one and two. On the final lap, Koch got a huge run on the outside to pick up the win by a narrow .158 seconds. Koranda capped off a good weekend with a runner-up finish with Bahr, Carlson and Nelson rounding out the top five.
The Wissota Pure Stocks had a rough go of it. Early on it was Billy Binsky taking the top spot with Justin Barsness of Grand Rapids and Joshua Bitker of Bemidji all over him. Josh Berg of Bemidji was charging to the front and moved into fourth.
Things got dicey as Bitker, Berg and Austin Carlson of Cohasset went three-wide coming out of turn four, and the contact led to Berg being squeezed into the wall with Carlson also being involved. Berg would leave on the hook; at the same time Caylyn Binkley’s 15 machine blew a radiator and was also done. Bitker was sent to the tail for the caution. Carlson would change a tire and bring his battered #57 machine back to the track.
Barsness was pressuring Binkley for the lead but Kade Leeper of Guthrie was fast after starting back in ninth. He got underneath Binkley in turns three and four and would finish the pass in turns one and two. Chad Puschinsky of Bemidji was also running well in third.
On the restart Leeper opened up some breathing room as Binkley and Barsness fought for second. Binkley would get together with Puschinsky; and the caution would wave. Because the yellow/black had waved, Binkley was done for the night.
Leeper would outlast Barsness for the win with Chad Puschinsky in third and Deryk Weleski of Bemidji was fourth. Carlson made a nice comeback to take fifth.
The Mini Stock feature got off to a rough start with a lot of contact on the frontstretch which resulted in Conrad Schwinn getting the black flag on the first lap. I believe that was the correct call and I wish more tracks would use the black flag for rough driving; it would save on equipment.
Shannon George of Bagley would jump out to the lead after the initial caution. Moments later Jonah Espe of Roseau went for a bit of a ride off of turn one; he didn’t roll over but his night was done.
George had Ashton Schwinn of Little Falls and Hayden Engen of Gonvick chasing him. George would slide high in turn two and that opened the door for Ashton Schwinn and Engen to move into the top two spots; Engen would spin seconds later but get going and the race stayed green, but it cost the #77 car valuable ground.
After that, Schwinn was in total control and rolled to a straightaway win over George. Cory Nelson of Leonard went from 10th to third while Kalin Honer was fourth. Cameron Schwinn of Little Falls was fifth.
Majeta Dreyer of Bemidji set the pace in the Wissota Hornet feature for the first few laps but had several drivers giving chase including Chad Reller of Washkish, Minn. REller would take the lead with Cejay LaValley and Barsness giving chance.
Reller had the lead but Barsness found something on the outside and worked on the lead, and would take over the top spot with a couple of laps left. LaValley had Alex Aderman, who started dead last in 12th, all over him for third.
Barsness and Reller pulled away from the field as Aderman moved into third. Barsness edged Reller by .394 seconds with Aderman taking third. One driver who had a very good run was Ellen Lange of Staples, who started eighth but moved up to fourth by the checkered. LaValley rounded out the top five.
With a ton of contact on the first lap, it was a miracle the Wissota Midwest Modifieds didn’t pile up. But on lap two, they did with a five-car mess in turn two.
Gary James Nelson of Ponemah left with two flat tires; Tucker Jacobson of Pelican Rapids had a flat and other damage; and Landon Gross of Bemidji suffered the worst of it with a badly mangled front end that required him to leave on the hook. Nelson would return after changing tires but Jacobson was done.
It was pretty clear from the get-go Joseph LaValley of Bemidji was fast, and after that pileup he surged into the top spot. The best battle was for second between Dane Durbin of Maple Grove and Doyle Erickson of Bagley.
Brandon Bahr of Tenstrike and Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji were also running in the top five.
Nelson was making up some serious ground on the high side and was soon challenging for a top five spot after restarting at the tail after changing two tires.
LaValley controlled things up front as Durbin and Erickson fought for second. Nelson moved into fourth past Bahr as the white waved.
LaValley would win by 1.075 seconds over Durbin. Erickson was third, Nelson fourth and Bahr fifth.
Rookie driver Nick Seitz of Bemidji led the Wissota Mod 4 on lap one but Conrad Schwinn of Little Falls was right on his heels.
Tommy Bawden, second in the Wissota Mod 4 national points, started seventh but quickly moved into the top three. Schwinn would take over the top spot and Bawden would follow into second.
Blake Erickson of Bagley moved into third as Seitz was being threatened by Dave Slovick of Elk River.
Schwinn was leading but slowed suddenly and pulled off, giving the lead to Bawden. Erickson was keeping pace for the top spot. Slovick was also running well in third.
The Wissota Mod 4s went green to checkered as Bawden would take a comfortable win by 1.486 seconds. Erickson was second, Slovick third, Jamie Flickinger of New London was fourth and Seitz rounded out the top five. The Mod 4s did a nice job with a good, clean race.
The Wissota Modified feature saw the 60-year-old veteran, Alan Olafson of Blackduck, jump into the lead over another veteran, Jeff Reed of Bemidji.
Olafson’s primary challenger for much of the race was a persistent Josh Beaulieu.
On the move after starting seventh was Devin Fouquette of St. Cloud. He had been running the lower lane effectively in turns three and four and was making up ground, and had gotten past Reed for third.
Olafson and Beaulieu pulled away from the field, but Fouquette was eating into the deficit and soon made it a three-car breakaway. Nicholas Jacobson of Bemidji was battling with Reed for fourth.
The top three had a big advantage on the field but Olafson kept Beaulieu, who was trying every line imaginable, at bay. Fouquette was right behind Beaulieu as those three set a quick pace.
Beaulieu stayed right on Olafson’s tail but couldn’t get enough momentum to make a pass as Olafson prevailed by .515 seconds. Beaulieu settled for second while Fouquette capped off a good run in third. Jacobson and Reed rounded out the top five.
Thanks to the folks at Bemidji for the hospitality, it is possible I may cover some races remotely via Dirt Race Central later this year.
Bemidji Notes
--Bemidji Speedway will host the Wissota 100 portion of the Pure Stocks, Hornets and Mod 4s in September in what is a new concept this year. That event will take place on Sept. 9-10. I think it has the potential to be a really good weekend for the drivers and track and to get those classes a chance to have the spotlight; frankly at the Wissota 100 in the past they were overshadowed by the other classes.
--Koranda picked up the Wissota Super Stock win Saturday at North Central Speedway in Brainerd. I got a chance to visit with him in the pit area; I did a story a few years ago and him and his father, Shawn, as Shawn was turning over the Wissota Street Stock to Jack.
Jack’s been running at Brainerd and Bemidji on a regular basis. He recently graduated from Wadena-Deer Creek High School and will be attending Alexandria Tech College for diesel mechanics this fall.
--It’s clear Koch is taking dead aim at the super stock national title. Entering Sunday, he had 13 wins in 26 starts and by my count has raced at nine different tracks. He’s going to have to fight Shane Sabraski, among others, for that crown but is sure off to a strong start. In fact, three cars in the Wissota super stock top 10 were in attendance — Koch, Dylan Nelson of Merrifield and Jeffrey Frey of Ogilvie.
--The number is familiar — 92 and so is the last name, Seitz. Nick Seitz, son of the late great John Seitz, is racing a Wissota Mod 4. He earned a solid top five finish.
--I am doing a story on Alan Olafson in the days ahead. Olafson is back in the Wissota Mods after racing a few years in the Midwest modified class. He is driving a Lethal Chassis that was previously owned by Landon Atkinson of Little Falls.
--There were several drivers in the top 10 of Wissota National Points in the Wissota Super Stocks, Wissota Mod 4, Wissota Pure Stocks and Wissota Hornets on hand.
--A retired art teacher, Dennis Peterson gave up his track photography duties after last season but still writes the articles for the track and the Bemidji Pioneer. He also does feature stories on drivers, too. He’s been writing for over four decades and is a fixture there and has done a wonderful job providing publicity for the 1/4-mile oval for years. And is a very nice guy.
Peterson told me there are at least six father/daughter racing teams at Bemidji.
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